A SECURE dog walking site which will allow dog owners to let their pets off their lead safely in Flintshire could gain approval later this week.
Dogshill Paddock – situated in Dobshill, Penymynydd – has submitted plans to turn an 16,000 square metre agricultural field off the A550 into a dedicated dog exercise facility.
Applicant Matthew Blackie intends to create five secure 3,000sq metre paddocks that dog owners can book to give their beloved pets a good run around and encourage off-lead socialising.
One paddock will be exclusively reserved for local animal charities to exercise rescue dogs.
It is proposes that the site will operate between 8am and 8pm from April to September and 8am to 4pm from October to March and the plans include parking space for up to 50 vehicles.
The proposed business already has a Facebook page where dog owners have been showing support for the idea.
The plans will go before Flintshire County Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday, July 15 but they have already faced some opposition.
Neighbours have submitted 24 letters of objection citing the impact on rural character, animal grazing, noise and harm to hedgerows.
Local elected members have also raised concerns.
“Development of this scale would seriously damage the green wedge by adding significant number of daily vehicle movements into the designated area,” suggested Cllr Alasdair Ibbotson in his written response.
“The site does not have reasonable and safe pedestrian access, especially when walking dogs, and so it is reasonable to assume that, in practice, almost all customers will arrive by car.”
Cllr Roy Wakelam also expressed his doubts about the proposal.
“The highways access is almost blind,” he said. “This road already has a huge number of accidents and this will not help.
“Allowing any development apart from open farming affects the whole idea of this principle of green wedge designation.
“The area has many open areas, footpaths and such to allow for dog exercise.”
Penyffordd Community Council shared those concerns.
Flintshire County Council’s Highways department however found that proposals to improve site access would mitigate the safety issues and planning officers have recommended approval of the plans.
